Taken, Extraction, and The Equalizer – these are action films featuring a heroic protagonist rescuing or avenging a vulnerable victim. The genre’s continued success has spawned numerous similar books and movies.
A Working Man is the latest movie of this kind. The film is arriving in U.S. theaters on
March 28 and is distributed by Amazon MGM Studios (through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer).
However, These films do have an uncertain track record at the box office. Given this uncertainty, top prediction market Polymarket bettors are speculating how the movie will perform on its opening weekend.
As of March 24, the most popular option is $11-14 million. Before making your own bets, here’s what you need to know about A Working Man.
What is ‘A Working Man’?
A Working Man is an action thriller film produced by Sylvester Stallone under his production company Balboa Productions. Stalone also wrote the screenplay for the film, along with David Ayer.
Levon Cade left his profession behind to work construction and be a good dad to his daughter. But when a local girl vanishes, he's asked to return to the skills that made him a mythic figure in the shadowy world of counter-terrorism.
The film is based on Chuck Dixon’s 2014 book Levon’s Trade. Jason Statham will be playing the titular character, Levon Cade. Joining Statham in the cast are Jason Flemyng, Merab Ninidze, Maximilian Osinski, Cokey Falkow, Michael Peña, David Harbour, Noemi Gonzalez, Arianna Rivas, Emmett J. Scanlan, and Eve Mauro.
Critical reception and box office performance of kidnapping/revenge movies
These kinds of action movies have been box office blockbusters, but they have also flopped in the past. Let’s take a closer look:
Movie | Rotten Tomatoes Score | Opening Weekend Box Office |
The Beekeeper (2024) | 71% | $16,576,007 |
Nobody (2021) | 84% | $6,820,100 |
Death Wish (2018) | 17% | $13,010,267 |
The Foreigner (2017) | 66% | $13,113,024 |
Run All Night (2015) | 59% | $11,012,305 |
The Equalizer (2014) | 61% | $34,137,828 |
Prisoners (2013) | 81% | $20,817,053 |
Taken 2 (2012) | 22% | $49,514,769 |
Taken (2008) | 60% | $24,717,037 |
Death Sentence (2007) | 20% | $4,231,321 |
In the past 20 years, there have been all kinds of kidnapping/revenge films. Of course, in these last two decades, the tastes and wants of audiences have changed.
Moreover, many of these films go directly to streaming now – for example, Netflix’s Extraction. If we take a look at these ten movies, the opening weekend box office gross ranges from four million to 49 million dollars.
The film is unlikely to perform as well as Taken 2, which had the advantage of being a sequel to a massively popular and now classic kidnapper movie. However, Statham is no beginner in this genre. He is now a long-established vet.
Last year, Statham and director David Ayer reunited for The Beekeeper, which earned $16 million at the box office. Their track record suggests Statham continues to draw audiences to action films.
The early social media reviews are overwhelmingly positive with some saying this is their “favorite Jason Statham-led action film in quite some time.”
.@DavidAyerMovies’ #AWorkingMan is what we go to the movies for: Gripping vengeance-fueled beat-downs, a flinty anti-hero & a lil’ sincerity. A chiseled, no mercy brawler & rollicking, crowd-pleasing great time seeing Jason Statham kick ass. We need 1 of these collabs every year. pic.twitter.com/ZxMIST5iXL
— Courtney Howard (@Lulamaybelle) March 25, 2025
Box Office Theory predicts an $11-16 million opening weekend gross. With positive early reviews and Jason Statham’s proven draw in the action genre, the film could potentially reach the higher end of that range at $14-17 million.
